Anna Christie (1930, English version)

Ideally, I would only watch good movies.

This is, well, it's not good. Not even close to being average. It might be worth watching for historical value. but even that's a tough call.

The historical value is that this is Greta Garbo in her first talkie.

But boy is this movie slow, awkward, and boring.

The camera shots... the cameras must be trees. They're stuck and don't move.

It's a talkie, but it still uses written cards on three occasions for transitions -- when probably no "transitions" are actually necessary. Just switch to the new shot, director. It's okay. I promise the audience can follow along, especially at the turtle's pace this movie is going.

And, it doesn't help that the movie is based on a Eugene O'Neill play, so that all the scenes are talk-driven and stationary.

I just watched Mata Hari (1931), and I wondered in my review of that film if Garbo was still finding the proper use of her voice in talkies. Probably so, because she definitely shows in this one just how awkward she is speaking her part -- her movements, her accent, her weird emphasis she gives to her lines...

Usually I want to say at least one positive thing in a review. I guess what I can say positive in this one is that every review I've read indicates that the German version is better -- saying that Garbo seems more natural speaking German, and that the director of the German version does an overall better job... I'm still willing and interested in watching the German version, and I also like comparing films that have been made into two version -- The Blue Angel and Dracula come to mind -- both being better in their non-English speaking versions.

Rating: 1/5

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